Analysts are divided over the feasibility of Samsung Group's plan to merge its two key units, as the proposed merger deal faces a legal battle with a U.S. hedge fund trying to stop the move citing fairness of the deal and could entail huge costs, reports showed Tuesday. Elliott Management has opposed the 8.9 trillion won ($7.96 billion) offer announced late last month by Cheil Industries Inc., t...

Apple Inc.'s new smartwatch is gaining popularity in South Korea with local customers purchasing the devices directly from overseas even before its official debut here slated for later this month, data showed Sunday. The number of foreign direct purchases of the Apple Watch Sport came to 181 in the May 26-June 12 period, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. The device is...

POSCO Co., South Korea's largest steelmaker, will sign a deal with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund early this week to sell its stake in its main construction unit, an industry source said Sunday. The deal with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund calls for POSCO to sell a 38 percent stake in POSCO Engineering and Construction Co. for 1.2 trillion won ($1.08 billion), the source said. "A s...

South Korean poultry processor Harim Corp. is set to wrap up its purchase of Pan Ocean Co. after creditors and shareholders on Friday approved a rescue plan for the country's biggest bulk carrier. Harim, which sources most of its grain demand through imports, had been selected as the preferred bidder of the deal, which it anticipates will cut shipping costs. The food firm submitted 1.08 trillion...

Samsung C&T Co., a construction and trading arm of Samsung Group, said Friday that it is seeking to delist its depositary receipts traded on the British stock market in order to stem a possible lawsuit there by a U.S. hedge fund over its attempt to merge with its sister firm. Samsung C&T said it will report its plan to the Financial Conduct Authority, which oversees the London Stock Exchange to ...

An incumbent executive at a Samsung Group unit has been found to hold a secret Swiss bank account opened under the address of the group's old headquarters in Seoul, an independent online news outlet reported Thursday. Kim Hyung-do, an executive at Samsung Heavy Industries Co., has held an account with HSBC in Switzerland since 1993, with some $190,000 deposited between 2006 and 2007, according t...

Samsung C&T Co., the construction arm of Samsung Group, said Wednesday its plan to merge with the group's de facto holding firm doesn't hurt shareholders' interests, refuting a U.S. hedge fund's claim that the builder is undervalued. In late May, Samsung C&T unveiled the plan to merge with Cheil Industries Inc. in a move widely seen as aimed at paving the way for a leadership change at South Kor...

South Korea's top tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday it plans to open its first Seoul-based research center in October, which will focus on the software and design segments. The new center, whose construction began in 2012, will be named "Samsung Seoul R&D Campus" and offer a university-like environment to researchers, the company said. Around 7,000 staff members of Samsung's des...

South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group said Wednesday its chief Lee Kun-hee has recovered to "a stable condition," and he is receiving rehabilitation treatment. The remark came as a local online newspaper revealed a recent photo of Lee lying on a bed at Seoul-based Samsung Medical Center on Tuesday. It marked the first time for a photo of the tycoon to be revealed since he was hospitalized...

South Korean conglomerate Lotte said Sunday it has inked a deal to buy a Manhattan hotel for $805 million to accelerate the retail-focused group's overseas expansion. Hotel Lotte plans to set up a subsidiary to operate the New York Palace Hotel and wrap up the acquisition by the end of August, the business conglomerate said in a press release, adding the deal was signed on Friday. The New York ...

South Korea-based e-commerce service Coupang said Thursday it has clinched an exclusive deal with a U.S. consumer goods maker co-founded by American actress Jessica Alba to sell their products in the local market. Under the deal, Coupang will sell some 150 different kinds of consumer goods produced by The Honest Company, such as shampoos, diapers, and other beauty and fashion-related products. ...

The market capitalization of Samsung Group, South Korea's No. 1 conglomerate, jumped two days after it announced a plan to merge two key affiliates, making the owner family richer, data showed Thursday. In the latest in a series of mergers among group affiliates, Cheil Industries Inc., Samsung's de facto holding company, and Samsung C&T Co., its trading and construction arm, announced Tuesday th...

Stock funds that invest in affiliates of Samsung Group are expected to continue to build up gains on hopes that South Korea's largest conglomerate will accelerate its moves toward a more simplified ownership structure through mergers and asset sales, thus inducing a leadership change to the group owner's heirs, analysts said Wednesday. Cheil Industries Inc., Samsung's de facto holding company, a...

POSCO Co., South Korea's largest steelmaker, said Wednesday that it has gotten the nod from China to build a steel mill that uses its cutting-edge Finex technology. POSCO has been pushing to get permission from China to build the steel mill with an annual production capacity of 3 million tons in the southwestern city of Chongqing after reaching a preliminary deal with Chinese steelmaker Chongqin...

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top automaker, said Wednesday it will release the world's first car that links to U.S. Google Inc.'s Android Auto app, adding the service will officially kick off in the United States later this month. The platform will be first applied to the 2015 Sonata sedan and will later be expanded to other models, Hyundai Motor said. The Android Auto is an app that allows...